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Sports

Beast of the East Rugby Tournament Comes to Aquidneck Island

The annual Beast of the East Tournament will be held this Saturday, April 16, through Sunday, April 17, at Portsmouth's Glen Farm on East Main Road.

 will swarm with rugby fans this weekend as players from up and down the Atlantic coast battle for the Beast of the East 2011 Collegiate Rugby Tournament Title.

In its 28th year of running and 13th year in Portsmouth, it is expected to draw a magnificently large crowd. With 78 teams competing, it is known to be the largest college rugby tournament in the country and most likely the world, according to director Chris Palombo.

“We are preparing for about 5,000 to 6,000 people so there will be satellite parking and shuttles getting people back and forth from the game,” said Palombo.

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Shuttles to and from the event will be made available at the .

Sponsors for the year include McGrath’s Clambakes, which will be serving up food throughout both days, and Rugby Imports, which will have a tent set up for visitors to peruse.

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This Saturday, April 16, the event will kick off at 8 a.m. There are six fields that will be set up on the right side of Glen Farm and 78 games will be played, all which will be over by 6:40 p.m.

On Sunday, April 17, the games will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 5 p.m.

“We begin preparing for this event far in advance,” said Palombo. “We have over 30 referees coming for Saturday alone. It’s a challenge logistically, but after doing it for so long, our committee has a lot of experience.”

Among the school teams to compete this weekend are Roger Williams UniversitySalve Regina UniversityUniversity of Rhode Island, UMass Amherst, Boston University, Providence College, Yale and Princeton. Both men's teams and women's teams will compete.

Rhode Island has had a long history with the game of rugby, starting with the Providence Rugby Club, which originated in 1969. Since this time, the club has worked in conjunction with many local teams and brought about Beast of the East Tournament to connect more and more schools with the movement.  

Palombo, who had been involved in the program for years, started playing rugby himself in the 90s' when he attended Roger Williams University and looks forward to the crowd.

“Rugby is that fasted growing team sport in America right now and universities are really starting to embrace it,” said Palombo. “The Northeast is densely populated with rugby teams and, with Rhode Island having the Providence Rugby Club, which has been around for 42 years, it makes sense to have a tournament of this caliber here.”

Beast of the East will also be in good company when the USA Sevens Organization, a high media rugby tournament that runs collegiate and international championships, rolls into town to set up a stand for fans. The USA Sevens will also give away tickets to upcoming championships this weekend.

For a complete schedule of the games, see the pdf at right. For more information about the tournament, click here.

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